Innocence and Guilt

For Monday, May 22, 2006
Proverbs 17:15

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous
are both alike an abomination to the LORD

We have our own sayings and maxims, sayings which have the ring of truth in them, and have some limited wisdom or application. The Biblical Proverbs give us much more: they give us the wisdom of God.

One common expression we hear about our standards of justice and the presumption of innocence is that "it is better that ten guilty men go free than one innocent man be condemned." Other than this expression being an assertion, it also calls us to question how we might calculate what number of guilty men could go free before it might be worth condemning an innocent man.

How much more significant is God's standard of justice. He does not want the rulers of Israel or the nations to declare any guilty men to be innocent, or to condemn any innocent man. Both alike are an abomination.

Surely, there was a presumtion of innocence, and guilt had to be satisfactorily demonstrated under Israel's justice. But Proverbs warns about the crimes of injustice that the rulers can perprtrate.

We're not many of us called to be rulers or judges, but many temptations pull us away from sober judgment. We may excuse the sins of those close to us, while mangifying the peccadilloes of those that are distant. We may desire the sins of family members to be swept under the rug, while receiving evil reports of those we bear grudges against. For many reasons we judge unjustly. But God is a judge who judges us with a perfect standard.